Journalism professor K.C. Cole's new book, Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and the World He Made Up (Houghton Mifflin), has received numerous positive reviews during its release this week (Listen to Aug. 7 NPR feature).
The book is both a biography and a memoir, a love story about physics and what it means to be human, a funny and tragic chronicle of peace and war that in many ways mirrors the uneasy relationship that our society has with science, art and understanding.
The San Jose Mercury News said the book is "An absolute delight ... Belongs on the bedside bookshelf of every science enthusiast and should also be a treat for any reader curious about the universe."
"Something incredibly wonderful will happen when you open this book," said Alan Alda, author of Things I learned While Talking to Myself. "You'll come face to face with a man who had an uncanny knack for making the wonders of nature available to the rest of us, and you'll get to look inside his extraordinary mind, which itself was one of the wonders of nature. As always, K.C. Cole delivers science to us as a thrilling ride, a deeply human story and a gallery of unimaginable beauty."
Said Dave Sobel, author of The Planets, Galileo's Daughter and Longitude: "K.C. Cole's life-sized portrait of Frank Oppenheimer depicts a complex character who sowed inspiration in his wake. The book made me laugh and cry - and wish that Oppenheimer were alive to read it."
From the publisher:
As a young man Frank Oppenheimer followed in his famous brother’s footsteps—growing up in a privileged Manhattan household, becoming a physicist, working on the atomic bomb. Tragically, Frank and Robert both had their careers destroyed by the Red Scare. But their paths diverged. While Robert died an almost ruined man, Frank came into his own, emerging from ten years of exile on a Colorado ranch to create not just a multimillion dollar institution but also a revolution that was felt all over the world. His Exploratorium was a "museum of human awareness" that combined art and science while it encouraged play, experimentation, and a sense of joy and wonder; its success inspired a transformation in museums around the globe. In many ways it was Frank’s answer to the atom bomb. K.C. Cole — a friend and colleague of Frank’s for many years — has drawn from letters, documents, and extensive interviews to write a very personal story of the man whose irrepressible spirit would inspire so many.
